Amos Harel

Amos Harel is one of Israel's leading media experts on military and defense issues. He has been the military correspondent and defense analyst for Haaretz for the last 12 years. In this role, he has written extensively about Israel's ongoing fight against terrorist organizations, its battles during the Palestinian Intifadah (uprising) and the last war in Lebanon.

Prior to his current position, Harel, 41, spent four years as night editor for the Haaretz Hebrew print edition, and from 1999-2005 was the anchorman on a weekly Army Radio program about defense issues. He also frequently appears in the Israeli and foreign media as a military pundit.

Along with Avi Issacharoff, Harel co-wrote "The Seventh War: How we won and why we lost the war with the Palestinians", a 2004 book about the second Intifadah. The book- a best-seller in Israel - has been translated into French and Arabic, and won the prestigious Chechic award in 2005, for outstanding security research.

Harel and Issacharoff's second book, "34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah and the War in Lebanon", about the war of 2006 was published in Hebrew in January 2008, and also became a best-seller. It was published in English, by Palgrave-Macmillan Books, in April 2008. "34 Days" also won the Chechic award in 2009.

Harel is a graduate of Tel Aviv University, with a bachelor's degree in Law. He is married with three children and lives in Hod Hasharon, in central Israel.

Israeli defense minister's stance on the issue contradicts the public pronouncements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he feels a 'deep commitment to bringing the boys home. It is always with me.'